Why is ALMOST everyone in America (specifically teens) OBSESSED with drugs, s*x, & drinking?

Question

NOTE I SAID ALMOST everyone, NOT entirely everyone but a majority, I go to high school okay and all I hear day in and day out is stuff about s*x, and smoking crack, and drinking. But alot of it is about drugs. I mean, I am proud to be an American, but is this what America has been reduced to? Kids doing drugs, having s*x, and drinking under age, people talking about it like their life depends on it, it gets so annoying.

"v****a this! p***s that!"

"I just tapped this hot chicks ***!"

"Dude I love scotch! I drank a whole bottle yesterday!"

"Wanna go outside and smoke some dope?"

"Dude I was so HIGH yesterday!"

How disturbing is that...make it STOP!

Why are they all so obsessed with it???????

Answer 1

it is annoying

i wish they knew that s*x and drugs doesn't equal life

Answer 2

I think one reason kids want to do these things is because they're  "forbidden fruit."  Another reason is because they seem  'glamorous' and 'cool.'. Another is that they want to brag to their peers that they have done these 'wild' things--it makes them feel superior, adventurous.

Re: alcohol--advertising always portrays it as so glamorous.  Have you seen the beer ad that goes "It's love, it's love, it's love, it's love, it's lalalalalalalalala love," where the ballerina carries a beer bottle on a tray and gives it to a man as an "act of love?" Yeah, like a 100 lb ballerina is going to drink beer. And, like, it's an 'act of love' to encourage a friend to do something that's unhealthy for them.

But more than that--the restaurants industry,  bars, and other places of entertainment lobby heavily in gov't to keep alcohol in restaurants, etc., because they make so much money off of it.  It's a $multi-billion  industry that works hard to keep alcohol 'in our faces.'  They want to keep us drinking, and they want to encourage young people to start drinking in spite of the dangers of it.

What these kids need to think about is not just themselves but what they're doing to their friends.  If you encourage your friends to drink alcohol or use dope or cigarettes and they get hooked on them, are they going to be glad you did it in the long run? No.  If they kill someone driving drunk after being with you, will they be glad you gave them scotch to drink?  No.  Are you a very good friend?  I don't think so.  You aren't doing well by your friends if you encourage them to take poisons that put them at risk of becoming addicted--and very, very many will.

Answer 3

hm. i wonder that too.

i usually feel like it's a status thing among teenagers. a guy who sleeps with a lot of girls or a chick who gets drunk and parties all the time is seen as cool. because it's bad ***. breaking rules and going against your parents' morals makes you cool. i'm not agreeing, i'm just pointing out the general mentality.

also, i feel like kids in other countries seem to grow up faster, mentally and emotionally. i mean i don't want to generalize; this is only based on when i've been to & hung out with teens in italy, france, and poland. like, 14-year-olds were partying and drinking and then by 16 they were over that and focusing on other things. i don't really have an explanation for that, but i found it interesting. they don't indulge in being a kid as much as americans do. i don't know why that is.

anyway, i'm an american teenager. i'm not obsessed with s*x or drinking but i won't lie; i smoke pot. that doesn't make me a bad person does it?

haha sorry this doesn't really answer your question. i'm just kind of rambling and vaguely hypothesizing.

Answer 4

Well I just think its because those things, s*x drugs & drinking, are all common things. I mean drinking in something fun to do socially, s*x of course is fun, but drugs i guess are fun at the time..I have never personally done them myself. But all these things are in the media so often, what else is there to talk about sometimes, especially since you are in high school. All about s*x and partying. Well where I am anyways.

I just think that its every where not just America. I was in Spain, Japan, and the Philippines and it was the same way there also

Answer 5

influence from older peers??

everyone trying to fit in with different crowds.. experimenting is the highschool thing anyway.

availability... if its there, why not do it?

have fun, fit in

it all sounds sad but these answeres are like reality. (for me, my friends and my school at least)

Answer 6

addiction

Answer 7

Sounds like teenage boys to me.

Answer 8

I SO agree with you. I'm pretty sick of it. I DON'T want to smoke cigs, pots, I DON'T want to drink, and I DON'T want to have s*x with anyone. I really don't understand why you would want to, if you're only in high school or middle school. Think about your future and try to focus on school...and no, that doesn't make me a nerd or anyone else one. Grades aren't my life but I try to do my best and I'm hoping to become a more successful person out of it. I was raised with morals where those things aren't allowed....I guess they just want to try things and aren't afraid of the consequences. They should be thinking, "hmmm....if I smoke this cig, I may become addicted and have to waste a shitload of $ on it..."

or "hmmmm....maybe I shouldn't smoke this joint...what if I become a pothead and waste my time, energy, and $ on dope?"

"hmmmm....maybe I shouldn't drink...I can get seriously drunk and someone can hurt/rape/steal something from me..."

they're pretty much retarded.

it's like that with many things, like clothing, makeup, hair, attitude, everything. most of them do it to fit in.

Answer 9

Because we live in a pseudo-Puritan society.  Called "PC" these days...it's had other names in previous generations and in other nations.  Mimicking the government's and religious leaders' pious and hypocritical posing, kids' parents and authority figures portray any behavior that doesn't meet mythical standards as unheard-of, and for the most part claim that even THINKING about such things is bad.  "MY kid would never...".  And the next thing you know the kid's in rehab, jail, or dead.  "How could it happen?" everyone gasps.  But it's society's irresponsible self-righteousness that laid the foundation.

Meanwhile, Hollywood and TV beseige kids with stuff that fuels their fantasies.  Of course there the ultra-violence of video games as well.  But to me the most iconic is the teen "slasher film" where we invariably see a couple sneak away from the 'safety' of the group to have a drink, smoke a joint, and have s*x -- and when it gets to the unzipping that's of course the moment where the mad psychopath or monster appears and graphically cuts them to ribbons.  

Teenagers have always been anxious to stretch the envelope of social behavior, and do so around the world.  What is troubling about the United States is the way that we as a society simultaneously profit from sustaining agressive behavior, and claim extreme surprise when we see it acted out.  The word is "Denial".  Sadly, American culture has had this Achilles heel for almost as long as our culture has existed.  But the current polarization of wealth and tribalism's growing popularity as a social ethic here have made it into a life threatening disease for what we call "Our Way of Life".

I went to High School in ultra-progressive Portland, Oregon. Surprise: it's not only the most racially segregated of all American cities, but also the hub of the tar-heroin trade.  Many kids from wealthy families there "run away" during the summer months and live scrounging in the streets of the city center, moving back to suburban comfort when the weather moves into winter.  One boy I passed sprawled on a downtown sidewalk looked up at me with with bleary eyes through his Dreads and growled, "Hey.  If you give me a dollar, I'll let you spit on me."   That pretty much says it all.

I, for one, having lived through the late '60s as a young adult when the country (both "Conservative" and "Liberal") went collectively nuts the last time -- though not so severly as now --wish you courage and hope you find your way to emerge whole.   Many of my generation did not.

Answer 10

v****a This!  p***s that! lol

Answer 11

just in america? hahaha think that happens everywhere

Answer 12

i guess a mixture of peer pressure and stress? it bothers me a lot too.  

Answer 13

Because in america, they have those unfortunate oppurtunities. Nobody is stopping them. They do it because they can

Answer 14

The media glorifies it, teens watch and listen to and are interested in. They try it they like it, they keep doing it because it makes them feel good or it's what their friends do so they do it to fit in. There are many reasons.

Answer 15

It's not just America that does it... You've never been a teenager in another country, but I assure you that it's the same over there... They may use a different vocavulary, but the effect is still the same.

That's just what teenagers do... They use these things to be accepted by their peers, and kudos to you for not stooping to their level, but it's been going on for decades and it's not going to change tomorrow.

Answer 16

I'm an American, but will be the first to admit that Americans can be quite annoyin'.. they talk 'bout stuff that is incredibly annoyin', disgustin' and pointless. Mostly comin' from teenage boys, teenages period or just a bunch of dumbass'.... or the "tough" ones. It's pretty pathetic. I hear this c**p everyday, I don't understand it.. at all. I don't know what they're lookin' for, who they're tryin' to impress, I just don't know. Ur guess is as good as mine...